The X Factor ongoing series
by PK Lam
Summary: With peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants achieved, what lies ahead for the X-Men?


The X Factor

No. 0

Bold New World

            "Get off me you stupid b*tch!" shouted Monet "M" St. Croix as she punched Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee with her superhuman strength.

            "Lighten up, M," joked Jubilee as she dodged M's attack and unleashed plasmoid bursts at M, "It was just a joke."

            "Knock it off young ladies or you'll spend the rest of your life in detention!" threatened Emma "White Queen" Frost, the telepathic psychology teacher at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning as she telepathically kept the two girls in line.

            "Yeah it was only a joke, M," added Clarice "Blink" Ferguson as she teleported with a "blink" sound from a corner and right up to M's face, "Get over it."

            "Why you…" M started as she balled her hands in a fist attempting to punch Blink, "I'll show you how I get over things you little…"

            "ENOUGH!" shouted Emma as she pushed the three girls away from the lockers and towards the principal's office, "There will be no more arguing, understood?"

            "But those two weasels are at fault, Miss Frost!" plead M as she pointed into her locker, which was usually organized but was now filled with the school's boys gym clothes, "Jubilee and Blink stuff my locker with all this… this… filth!  They should be going to Professor Xavier's office, not me!"

            "Prove it, M," challenged Jubilee as she blew a huge bubble from her pink bubble gum right in M's face, "You can't, can you?"

            "I don't care who did what to whom!  You three will settle this with Xavier!" Emma pointed out as she pushed the girls toward Xavier's office.

            As they moved down the halls of Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning, the mutant students that attend this special school just stared at them as though they were criminals that murdered innocents for enjoyment.  This school had been formed by Professor Charles Francis Xavier, a telepathic mutant with a dream to bridge the gap between humans and mutants, human beings with an "x-factor" in their DNA which enables them to have extraordinary mutations, so that the world could coexist peacefully.  Much of his dream would not have been realized had it not been for the help of Xavier's good friend, Erik Magnus Lensherr, and Xavier's ex-wife, Dr. Moira MacTaggert.

            Magnus and Xavier had always had similar goals but each approached their goals very differently.  Xavier had always been a pacifist and Magnus had always been the aggressor for the mutant cause.  For a time, they wanted to part ways and try to build a new world based solely on their ideals.  Luckily they both realized that none of their dreams would come true if they worked separately.  Thus, Magnus and Xavier banded together and formed the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. 

            Dr. MacTaggert had always stood by her ex-husband's side even though she was human and he was a mutant.  This simple fact never swayed Dr. MacTaggert's love for Xavier, in fact, it only amplified their love.  Dr. MacTaggert managed to help Xavier to build numerous mutant research facilities, called the Xavier Laboratories, all over the United States to help keep the majority of the world informed about the ever growing mutant population.  Their love would not be able to withstand the force of the media though.  The media would tear their relationship asunder through false rumors.  Divorced shortly after giving birth to their son, Kevin Xavier, Dr. MacTaggert moved from the States back to her native land, Muir Island, where she set up the Muir Island branch of Xavier Laboratories.

            As Emma dragged the girls down the halls with constant peering eyes, Emma practically kicked open the door into Xavier's office without the courtesy of knocking.  Talking on the phone, Xavier was stunned when Emma burst into his office and tossed the girls right into the seats facing Xavier's desk.  Her hair wild and frenzied, Emma's eyes lit up with an inner fury that sent chills down the girls' spines.

            "Charles, I had enough of these three!" shouted Emma as Xavier quickly ended his phone conversation, "They were all being unruly yet again!  Disciplinary action must take place immediately.

            The girls started to all talk at once, trying to plead their side of the story.  Even Emma continued to rant about how Jubilee and M are always causing trouble.  Unable to take in all that was going on, Charles quickly called their ramblings to a stop.

            "One at a time, please," asked Xavier politely, shaking his head as though he was disoriented from all the shouting.

            "These two wh*res broke into my locker Professor Xavier!" informed M pouting her lips.

            "Watch the language Miss St. Croix.  We will not have that kind of talk in my office."

            "Whatever, M!" attacked Jubilee, "Everybody hates you.  It could've been anyone that trashed your locker.  Just 'cause I'm Asian, you want to hate on me."

            "Yeah," continued Blink, following Jubilee's lead, "And just 'cause I'm pinkish, you want to hate on me!  It's racism I tell you!  Racism!"

            "Don't be absurd!" snapped M, "God, it can't be racism, idiot, we're all the same race!"

            "Alright you three, settle down," urged Xavier as he made facial expressions to Emma in an attempt to get her help.

            ('You're on your own with this, Charles,') muttered Emma telepathically as she walked out of the office, ('I told you from the get-go that Jubilee and Blink were going to be trouble, but no!  You didn't listen!')

            "Well, Jubilee, M does have reason to suspect you both.  You both have been caught teasing her numerous times, not to the mention that one time you spilled paint on M when she was chosen Prom Queen just so you could see M pull a stunt similar to the movie 'Carrie.'  Oh yes, also the other time that you two cropped M's hair right before her parents came to visit so that they'd be angry at her.  Shall I go on?"

            "Okay, Prof.  We got the point," muttered Jubilee as she continued to chew her gum.

            "But honestly Professor," Blink urged, "Jubes and I didn't do it this time."

            ('You can't lie to a telepath,') Xavier pointed out telepathically, "You've been caught red-handed.  I will have to decide the best disciplinary action to impose on you."

            "Why'd you have to go and start thinking about what happened?" mumbled Jubilee to Blink, "I told you to think happy thoughts so the prof would get confused."

            "Hey, trashing M's locker made me happy, so I thought about it," replied Blink as Jubilee rolled her eyes.

            "Hey, c*nt, I heard that," acknowledged M with her arms folded across her chest.

            "I guess you all will have to be in detention," determined Xavier as he pulled out paperwork from his desk drawer for the girls to sign, "And you all will also have to take over the cleaning duties of the janitors for a whole month."

            "No way!" cried Blink.

            "Yes way, dearie."

            "That's an unfair ruling, Professor," protested M as she got up from her seat, "I won't stand for it."

            "This isn't a democracy, smart @$$," joked Jubilee as she lower her magenta sunglasses over her eyes, "It's a dictatorship and Professor X is the boss.  It's a done deal, get over it."

            "Listen to Jubilee," added a voice from behind them, "She had enough experience in detention to be considered a veteran."

            "Rogue…" Xavier murmured as he looked up to see Jesselyn "Rogue" Darkholme, one of the students to graduate with Xavier's first senior class a few years ago.

            "Rogue!" cried Jubilee in childish glee, "You're back!"

            "Yeah sugah.  Just like good old times," commented Rogue as Jubilee went to hug her.

            "Well," started Xavier, "I guess we will have to fill out the detention papers later on today."

            "Saved by the rogue," muttered Blink as she got up from her seat with M.

            "Yup, I'm the original rogue and don't y'all forget it," reminded Rogue as she moved out of the way so that the three girls could exit the office.

            As the three girls left the office, Rogue went inside and lightly closed the door behind her.  Xavier stood up and looked at Rogue, unsure what was appropriate to do.  Rogue then stepped closer to Xavier and embraced him in a long friendly hug.

            "It has been so long, Jesselyn," Xavier pointed out as he broke free from the hug.

            "Yeah," Rogue agreed, "I remember, back in the day, I used to spend practically all my time holed up in detention and your office.  It practically became my home."

            "Yes, I do have extraordinary memory.  You were quite the bad girl, Rogue."

            "Yeah but I changed."

            "Well, this was an unsuspected surprise.  To what do I owe this pleasure?"

            "My powers… again," muttered Rogue.

            Xavier went back over to his seat behind the desk and Rogue took the seat once occupied by Jubilee.  Rogue combed her hand through her brown and white hair as she leaned forward as though she were under lots of stress.  Leaning back in her seat, Rogue let out a loud sigh before starting her story.

            "Are you powers acting up again?  Are you imprinting uncontrollably again?" asked Xavier, concerned.

            "No, no," Rogue corrected, "I'm imprinting just fine.  Ever since Magnus helped me out all those years ago, I have control ever since."

            "Then what are you talking about?"

            "You see," Rogue started, "When I want to imprint, when I will myself to imprint," Rogue continued as she reached out to touch Xavier, "This happens," finished Rogue as she made contact with Xavier's skin.  At the point of contact, Rogue's arm started to disintegrate into smaller molecules, rendering her ability to imprint a person's memories and powers upon physical contact useless.

            "My god," uttered Charles wide eyed.

            Later on that evening in Brooklyn, New York, many people were out walking the streets and sitting outside of their apartments in an attempt to stay cool from the blazing summer heat.  Kids ran through their neighbor's shower sprinklers without a care in the world.  Teens huddled together in patches all over the neighborhood, talking, gossiping and analyzing the most recent pop culture phenomena.  As a group of friends walked pass a jewelry store, a man wearing a black beanie and gray clothes burst out the store with a large bag of stolen jewels.

            "Someone stop that mutie!" shouted the storeowner as he burst out of the store with a phone in hand, "Stop him!  He robbed my shop!"

            The group of friends just stood in silence, stunned at having witnessed a robbery take place right in front of their eyes.  Neighbors around the shop were confused and most had no idea what the storeowner had said.  One lady being pushed on a wheelchair by her daughter strolled into the robber's path, unaware they were on a collision course with the robber.  The robber peered behind him and was oblivious to the two women in his way.  Just as the robber turned to look where he was going, it was too late and he collided with the two women.  Stumbling over the wheelchair, the robber frantically got up to his feet, ignoring the two women's cries.  Just as the robber got on to his feet and prepared to run, two police cars skid around the street corner with their sirens blaring.

            The robber started to run, pushing and shoving everyone out of his way with the bag of goods tightly in his grasp.  As the cops got out of their cars to chase after the robber, the storeowner cheered them on as though they were a premiere team of famous athletes.  Dressed in black and red with Xavier's trademark "X" insignia marked on their uniforms, the three cops ran after the robber into an alley.

            Dancing embers came from the burning oil drums lit up by the homeless as a source of light and heat along the sides of the alley.  Long and dark shadows were cast from the neighboring buildings as the sun descended below the horizon.  As the cops rushed after the robber with their boots splashing against the puddles of urban runoff, some of the homeless that were sleeping with a blanket of newspapers were stirred awake, confused.

            "Hold it right there!" shouted Lucas Bishop, Captain of the New York division of the Xavier Security Enforcement, a police force of mutants created solely to protect the world from mutant criminals, "You are under arrest for robbery!"

            The three cops drew out their plasma burst pistols as the robber ran straight into a dead end.  Unable to find a way to escape, the robber looked above him as though waiting for a miracle to save him.  As the three cops inched toward the robber with guns aimed and ready, the robber then looked at them, his face clouded by the shadows around them all.  The robber stood firmly and started to walk toward the cops.

            "Get your f*cking hands up in the air, now!" commanded Everett "Synch" Thomas, a mutant capable of synchronizing himself with other mutants so that he'd be able to use their power against them.

            "What are you going to do," asked the robber, "shoot me?"

            "Take another step closer and I'll do a whole lot worse," threatened Addison "Grey King" Falk, a mutant with the ability to dampen, or "shut off," the power of other mutants temporarily.

            "Do you think I'm scared?" asked the robber as he angrily threw down the bag of loot, "Do you know what they call me out here on the streets?  They call me Pyro and this is why!"

            Without warning, Pyro stretched his arms in front of him and the flames from the oil drums started to burn uncontrollably.  The fire started to move like it was alive as it launched itself toward the cops.  In a matter of moments, the flame spawned a few other flames that started to take the form of some sort of feline.  Before the cops could attack, the flaming feline lurched toward them.

            "Move, people!" ordered Bishop as the three of them backed themselves alongside the wall.

            The flaming feline turned around and raced toward the cops.  As the feline attacked, Pyro spawned more flaming creatures from the burning oil drums.  The cops fired their plasma pistols, managing to extinguish some of the creatures.  As the creatures started to surround the cops, Pyro started to plan his getaway.  Synch caught a glimpse of Pyro as Pyro started to climb up the wall.  Unsure exactly what Pyro's power was, Synch was reluctant to get in synch with Pyro.  Left with no other choice, Synch started to extend his "synch aura" toward Pyro, locking on to Pyro's power.

            Distracted by his synching, Synch was startled when a flaming feline leaped toward him.  Bishop instinctively got in between Synch and the flaming feline and took the hit for Synch.  As the feline made contact with Bishop, it started to extinguish as Bishop reactively used his mutant power of energy absorption and rechanneling to absorb the energy from the feline.  Once locked on, Synch started to turn the flaming felines into one large flaming dragon and had had the dragon attack Pyro.

            Making it halfway up the wall, Pyro turned to see how well his plan had faired but was shocked to find that his flaming felines had been turned against him.  As the flaming dragon took flight and flew head on at Pyro, Bishop released the energy he had absorbed through his hands as a form of plasma blast.  The blast hit directly on Pyro as he passed out and started to fall.  Luckily, Grey King broke Pyro's fall by saving him from hitting concrete.

            "This f*cking idiot," muttered Grey King as he used his power to shut down Pyro's power.

            "Cuff him and take him to the station," ordered Bishop as he handed Grey King the handcuffs, "I'll return the stolen goods."

            "Sure boss," acknowledged Synch as he helped to carry Pyro to the XSE squad car.

            As Synch and Grey King headed out of the alley, Bishop started to scour the area for potential evidence to use against Pyro.  Kneeling down to pick up the bag of loot, Bishop found a business card that was tattered and stained with mud.  Using his air spray to blow off the dirt without destroying potential fingerprints, Bishop got a clear look at the card.  It read:  "Dr. Uril Adler, geneticist.  I'll zap your mutation away.  Come in today and see it for yourself."  Unsure what to make out of the card, Bishop put it into an anti-static, air-lock, bag just as his cell phone rang.  Holding the bag in one hand, Bishop activated his cell phone.

            "Hello?" Bishop answered.

            Captain Bishop, the serial rapist struck again, replied a female officer

            "Are you sure?"

            We're positive, sir.  This attack is almost exactly the same as the numerous other murders this lunatic committed, explained the officer, We have the same slashings of the throat, lost of lots of blood and horrible physical mutilation.  It's so much worse than how I'm explaining it.  You'll have to come see it for yourself.

            "I'm on my way, Karma," promised Bishop as he disconnected, put away the evidence and then picked up the bag of loot to return it to the rightful owner.

            In Manhattan, New York, a large dinner banquet was underway at the New York branch of the prestigious club known as the Hellfire Club.  With membership strictly reserved for the wealthiest of the wealthy, the members of the Hellfire Club are people no one should cross.  Xavier had never been one for dinner parties or large gatherings, but with all that had happened with his students of new and old, he needed a night out.  Emma's apart of the Hellfire Club but she had too much to do for Frost Industries, her own company, to attend the banquet so she gave her invitation to Xavier.

            Xavier had been roaming from place to place inside the incredible mansion, which housed the most prestigious members of the Hellfire Club.  Lingering around but trying not to get noticed, Xavier accidentally bumped into Warren "Angel" Worthington III, a mutant that has real wings protruding from his shoulder blades.  Xavier had approached Warren a long time ago with an offer for Warren to join his school.  Confused and lonely, Warren accepted the invitation but he would leave soon after due to the early death of his father.  Entrusted with the task of carrying on the family business, Warren never came back to the school, he instead worked as CEO of Worthington Corporation and propelled the company to new heights, becoming the world's leader in quality technological products.

            "Warren!" exclaimed Xavier surprised.

            "Professor!  Wow, it's so good to see you again after all these years," said Warren as he shook Xavier's hand.

            "I'm surprised that you still remember who I am.  After all, you're a big shot businessman now."

            "Don't be that way Professor!  Of course I remember you.  You taught me what I really needed to know.  That's something I'll always carry in my heart."

            "Good for you," congratulated Xavier as he got this chill down his spine as though he were being watched.  Xavier looked around the surrounding area and found no one suspicious.  One man was staring at Xavier though.  His name was Sebastian Shaw, pretty much the head honcho of the New York branch Hellfire Club.

            "Professor?" asked Warren, concerned, "Are you alright?  You seem a bit distraught."

            "It's nothing," murmured Xavier as a young man approached Warren and him.

            "Hey, Warren!  We need to go meet up with the others," reminded the young man.

            "Okay but just quickly, Roberto, this is Charles Xavier.  Roberto, Charles.  Charles, Roberto.

            "Nice to meet you," said Roberto, firmly shaking Xavier's hand.

            "Ditto my friend."

            "Sorry to cut this meeting short but there's stuff Roberto and I need to take care of," Warren apologized as he followed Roberto, "It was really nice seeing you again!" 

            As Xavier turned to wave good-bye to Warren and Roberto, Shaw caught his eye.  Shaw stared at Xavier with his dark piercing eyes with such intensity that Xavier felt a hole being burned into his soul.  Not sure what to make out of Shaw, Xavier tried to ignore him and went to another part of the room.  Once he got to another spot, Xavier casually turned to see if Shaw continued to stare at him but was shocked to find the man had vanished.

            For the rest of the evening, Xavier could not meld into the group for he kept wondering about Shaw and his eerie stare.  Not having a good time at all, Xavier decided to leave the party.  As he made his way to the exit, Xavier almost bumped into a man.  Apologizing to the man, Xavier looked up and found that it was Shaw.

            "Oh, I'm so sorry," apologized Xavier as chills rippled into his spine, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

            "That's alright Mr. Xavier," Shaw replied, smiling as Xavier's jaw drooped open in surprise.

            "How did you know my name?  We've never met before."

            "You're correct Xavier.  We haven't met… not formally at least."

            "What are…"

            "You're pretty famous Xavier.  You know, with that large Xavier Corporation that you own and the schools you run, it boggles my mind to wonder why you haven't been invited to join the Hellfire Club."

            "I haven't been invited," Xavier confirmed, "But had I been, I probably wouldn't have joined anyhow."

            "And why's that?" asked Shaw as his forehead skin scrunched as though he were in deep concentration.

            "Why am I telling you all this?" asked Xavier aloud, "I really must be going Mr. Shaw.  I have places to be and I'll be late," Xavier lied, trying to avoid shaking Shaw's hand.

            Disappointingly lowering his hand, Shaw looked indifferent, "Why are you in such a rush?  Is there something wrong?"

            "No, no.  I just have to get back to the school.  I have paperwork that must be complete or else I'll miss my deadline."

            "I see," murmured Shaw with his face clearly indicating that he knew of Xavier's false claims, "Well, I will not want to delay you any further.  I just wanted to run a single question by you," continued Shaw as Xavier's face darkened in concern, "Have you ever heard of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, professor?"

            Over at the Muir Island branch of the Xavier Laboratories off the coast of Ireland, friends reunite after a long time a part from one another.  Ever since Illyana "Halo" Rasputin and Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde graduated just this past year, ahead of the current senior class of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, the two of them had ventured down very different paths.  Shadowcat followed her dream of becoming a law enforcement officer and made her dream come true by joining the New York branch of the Xavier Security Enforcement.  Halo, on the other hand, had been roaming the world, bringing the philosophy and ideals she learned at Xavier's schools to all the places she visited to help make a better world.  Best of friends, these two young women had been so wrapped up with their lives that neither one had time to meet each other until today.

            Kurt "Nightcrawler" Darkholme, had graduated from Xavier's school a long time ago but while he attended the school, he befriended both Halo and Shadowcat.  Having remained apart of the X-Men upon graduation, Nightcrawler jumped at the opportunity to leave his work and go on vacation with some of his very good friends.  Nightcrawler and Shadowcat arrived together and had just met up with Halo who arrived earlier.

            "Kitty!" Halo cried as she rushed to her friend, ready for an embrace.

            "Illyana!" cried Shadowcat as she rushed to meet Halo halfway.

            "I've missed you so much!  I'm so glad that you could come!"

            "And what about me?" asked Nightcrawler standing alone disappointed for not having anyone to greet him, "Didn't you miss me?"

            "Don't be silly Kurt!" teased Halo, "Get your butt over here so we can do this the right way!"

            Nightcrawler walked over to Halo and Shadowcat.  Before he could react, both Halo and Shadowcat pulled him into their hug and sandwiched him between the two of them.  Laughing without a care in the world, the three of them started to head into the main area of the research center.

            "I can't wait to see Rahne, Doug, and Peter again," Halo blurted out.

            "Yeah, me too," Shadowcat agreed as her eyes lit up, "So how's your bro, Peter, been doing?"

            "Don't tell me you still got a crush on that old lug," Nightcrawler exasperated as he rolled his eyes.

            "Who in the right mind would ever give up that beefcake?" asked Shadowcat wetting her lips with her tongue, "I sure as Hell won't."

            "Hey!" complained Halo, "That's my brother you're talking about!"

            "Well it's true!  He's a beefcake."

            As they continued to walk to the research center, there at the entrance stood Dr. Moira MacTaggert along with Peter "Colossus" Rasputin, and Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair.  As Nightcrawler, Halo, and Shadowcat approached, Halo was about to embrace her brother when Shadowcat made her body intangible and phased right through Illyana just to hug Colossus first.  Halo was none too happy with Shadowcat's trick but let it pass. 

            "I've missed you so, so very much, Peter!" exclaimed Shadowcat as she tightly hugged Colossus as though she were trying to squeeze the life out of him.

            "I… missed… you… too…" replied Peter as his face started getting a pinkish hue, "Could… you… lighten… up… on… the… hug?  You're… squeezing… too… tight…"

            "Oh, sorry," giggled Shadowcat as she let go of Colossus, "I didn't know."

            "Whatever," muttered Halo to Shadowcat as Shadowcat lightly jabbed Halo's side, "Ow!"

            "Hey," Wolfsbane interrupted, "Why don't we head inside.  It's starting to get chilly out here, ya?"

            "Ja," Nightcrawler agreed, "And Moira, are you going to whip up us a batch of your, oh so popular, hot chocolate?"

            "It's not that cold, lad," said Moira in her thick Scottish accent, smiling.

            "I know, I just miss your hot chocolate.  It's been different around the mansion ever since you left."

            Moira's happy expression quickly melted away into grief at the mention of the mansion.  With bad memories flooding back, Moira was no longer in joyful mood.  Taking a moment to reminisce, Moira quickly regained her composure.  Shadowcat nudged Nightcrawler on the side, upset at what had just transpired.

            "Kurt!" snapped Shadowcat in a loud whisper, "We all agreed not to bring up anything about her leaving."

            "Sorry, I forgot," defended Nightcrawler.

            "It's really alright Kitty but thank you for your concern," added Moira as she cleaned her oval glasses, "One must move on some time, you know?  It's about time I moved on with my life anyhow."

            They entered the research facility and Moira lead them straight to the dinner area.  Lit by thousands of lights, the dinning area appeared to be similar to a royal dinning hall of a futuristic palace.  As Moira instructed them to sit along the long dining table, she and Rahne went to get the refreshments.

            "There's someone missing from this reunion," Halo pointed out, "Peter, where's Doug?"

            "Doug?  I guess he's still working on a translation or something.  He should be up any minute now."

            "I sure hope so," agreed Shadowcat, "He was always so shy around us.  I guess since he didn't have an active power, he felt less a part of the group."

            "Yeah, I guess."

            Up in the living quarters of the research facility, Doug "Cypher" Ramsey rushed down the hall to his room, trying to put shaving cream on his face and shave while running.  Unable to shave for fear of cutting himself, Cypher quickly got into his room and ran to the mirror so that he'd prevent from cutting himself.

            ('I can't believe that I forgot about Illyana and the others!') thought Cypher anxiously as he scraped the facial hair stubs off his face, ('They came all the way from the States just to visit and I forgot,') muttered Cypher as he washed away the remainder of the shaving cream to reveal a smooth face, ('I miss Illyana the most though,') continued Cypher as he quickly changed out of his lab clothes and into something more casual, ('I hope she isn't mad.')

            As Cypher quickly straighten out the wrinkles on his dress shirt and jeans, there was a loud crash that came from his patio.  Not sure what had happened, Cypher stuck his head out the bedroom door to take a peek.

            "Is anyone there?" Cypher asked as he got out of the restroom.  That was when he saw the shattered glass scattered all over the floor.  Shocked, Cypher looked beyond and found that something had crashed through the glass patio door.  Cautiously walking around the broken glass with his bare feet, Cypher reached under his bed to retrieve his shoes.  Just as he slipped on his shows, he heard a scruffling noise behind him.  

"Who's there?" asked Cypher again as he jerked himself around to see what was behind him.  He found nothing.  As he reached over to the bedside counter to get to his cell phone, Cypher activated the phone as he slowly looked above him. Crying out in surprise, a creature covered with cables and wires, and colored yellow and black that was clinging to the ceiling upside down, screeched at Cypher.  Cypher tried to use his ability to translate any and all languages in an attempt to find meaning to the creature's cry but all he could draw upon this screech was a void in the vastness of space.  The hideous creature appeared to be part organic and part machine.  Screaming like an unholy siren, Cypher clasped his hand over his ears, trying to block out the sound but it was no use.  As quick as lightning, the creature leaped from the ceiling and right onto Cypher.

            At the moment of contact, the cables that hung from the creature detached and inserted itself into Cypher's flesh, beginning to merge.  Crying out in pain, the creature devoured Cypher in a cocoon of glowing yellow machinery until all his cries were drowned out.  In a matter of moments, the man known as Cypher was no more.  In his place was this hybrid of man and machine unlike anything the world had seen.  Still resting as the yellowing machinery retracted inside of Cypher, chunks of yellow metallic material still clung onto parts of his face as his eyes suddenly flipped open, revealing a set of red eyes with wires that connected it to the skull.

            Back downstairs, Moira and Wolfsbane didn't serve hot chocolate so Nightcrawler and the others had to settle for Moira's homemade chocolate ice cream.  Having ate every last bit of the ice cream, Nightcrawler was begging for more but Moira had no more.

            "C'mon lads and lasses," started Rahne as she returned from the kitchen after cleaning up the dishes, "I want to show you where I do my work."

            "Where's Doug?" asked Illyana again as she thought, ('How silly of me.  Why am I still so wrapped up with my school girl crush on Doug?  He's a man now and probably has a girlfriend.  I guess I was the only one of the two of us that thought there could be a relationship brewing.')

            "He must be sick.  The boy was rather sickly when he was younger," hypothesized Moira as they entered the elevator to descend to the sub-basement of the research center.

            "You guys will really love it at my work station," Wolfsbane advertised, "I got all the new stuff, everything.  Mp3s, LCD, you name it, I got it."

            As the elevator reached the sub-basement, the elevator came to a stop and slowly slid the door open.  Wolfsbane continued to talk about her great workstation without realizing what had happened to the sub-basement.  The others gasped in shock at the badly damaged sub-basement.  Wolfsbane finally turned her attention to the basement and cried out as well.  Numerous people were injured and many of the computers had been destroyed.  Sparks jumped out from the broken cables and crackled as sparks fell from the broken lights above.

            "What happened here?" asked Moira as though she expected an answer.

            "Quickly, look for survivors," Nightcrawler instructed as he teleported into the room, leaving behind a cloud of sulfur and brimstone.

            "Why didn't the alarm sound?" asked Wolfsbane as she partly transformed herself into her wolf form.

            "I don't know," answered Colossus as his skin transformed into metallic armor.

            Colossus lifted the chunks of debris off of the injured and tossed it aside.  Shadowcat turned herself intangible so that she could glide more easily through the area.  She checked the pulse of the injured, finding that many were near death or dead.  When she came across one man, he was widely alert.  The name tag read: Doctor Nathaniel Essex.

            "It was this… this… thing!" Dr. Essex cried as he grabbed at Shadowcat's intangible body, "It was in the cables and the computers.  It was horrible!"

            "What are you talking about?" asked Shadowcat confused.

            "This thing invaded the computer database and the power of its arrival caused all this damage!  I still…  I still… can't believe it!"

            "Calm down," Shadowcat soothed as Moira came to her aid.

            "How is he?" Moira asked.

            "His pulse is strong and he's very alert.  As far as I can tell, he's fine but I'm not the expert here."

            "Oh my God!" cried Wolfsbane as she reached her former workstation, "Someone or something is downloading all our files and eradicating everything after it completes the download!"

            "Override the system now, Rahne!" instructed Moira.

            "I'm trying but I can't get it to stop!"

            Shadowcat rushed over to help as Halo tried to use her computer skills to save what was left of the database.  Typing a few commands in hopes of stopping the download, Halo had no luck.  Shadowcat just stared at the monitor in awe of how much skill Halo had with computers.  All her life Shadowcat had been terrible with machines.  Her ability to become intangible always screws up the machines by disrupting the circuitry.  Never having learned advanced computer skills, Shadowcat settle for just using them instead of programming them.

            "I can't stop the download," Halo confirmed as she continued to type in commands.

            "I got an idea," Shadowcat mumbled, "Moira, do you have all your software backed up?"

            "Yes but why?" answered Moira as she helped Dr. Essex up.

            "This is why," muttered Shadowcat as she slammed her intangible arm into the computer.

            At that very moment, a chain reaction of short circuits occurred as, one by one, each monitor died along with the entire computer network.  Shadowcat removed her arm from the computer and the computer started to smoke from the system overload.

            "I didn't think of that," said Halo scratching her head.

            "Destructive yet effective," Shadowcat commented on her course of action.

            "Rahne, can you pinpoint the source of the download?" asked Moira.

            "I'm already on it," replied Wolfsbane as she searched the area with her portable tracer, "It's coming from… that's odd… It's coming from Doug's room."

            "That can't be," disaffirmed Moira.

            "We better get up there right now then," suggested Halo as she unleashed a ring of energy which passed over her to teleport.

            Nightcrawler teleported up to Doug's room as Shadowcat held hands with Colossus to make him intangible along with her.  Shadowcat and Colossus floated up each level of the sub-basement and just as the past the ground level floor, Shadowcat spotted a figure running down the hall toward the exit.  Quickly floating back downward to the ground level floor, Colossus and Shadowcat ran after the hacker.

            "Hold it right there!" shouted Shadowcat as she reached for her plasma burst pistol, "You are under arrest by the order of the Xavier Security Enforcement for suspected hacking!"

            "He's not listening," said Colossus as he and Shadowcat continued to run after the hacker.

            As Colossus and Shadowcat started to gain up on the hacker, Nightcrawler teleported to them along with Halo.  Halo was distraught and acting strangely.  

            "Something happened to Doug!" Halo pointed out as the four of them tried to stop the hacker, "His room was trashed and I couldn't find where he was."

            "That bastard will die if he hurt Doug," threatened Shadowcat as she fired a plasma blast trying to stop the hacker.

            The hacker quickly leaped into a hoodless car, backed out and sped off toward the cliff.  The four of them quickly got into a spare car and quickly sped after the hacker.  Following close behind the hacker, the hacker turned around and fired plasma beams at them.

            "Holy sh*t!" cried Shadowcat as she swerved the car, trying to avoid being hit, "Who the Hell is this guy?!"

            "Let's find out," replied Nightcrawler as he stood up in his seat, the wind whipping his dark hair and blue fur around.

            Colossus tried to get Nightcrawler to sit back down but, in an instant, Nightcrawler teleported and Colossus only grabbed at a cloud of smoke.  Nightcrawler teleported into the passenger seat of the hacker's car and he turned to confront the hacker.  As the wind whipped up all around them as the car accelerated even further, all other sounds were drowned out by the roar of the cars engine.  As Nightcrawler grabbed the steering wheel, trying to get the hacker off course, the hacker turned to Nightcrawler, revealing himself to be Cypher.

            "Doug?" Nightcrawler cried out in shock.

            Cypher only gave Nightcrawler a sinister smile.  Still surprised, Nightcrawler wasn't able to defend himself when Cypher jammed his hand up to Nightcrawler's chest.  Instantly, Cypher's hand started changed to machinery and shot a blast of plasma right into Nightcrawler, sending him flying out of the car and colliding with the ground like a dead hump of meat.

            "NO!" cried Halo as she saw Nightcrawler crash into the ground.

            "This can't be happening!" cried Shadowcat as she accelerated almost reaching the Nightcrawler.

            "You two go after that son of a b*tch!  I'll take care of Nightcrawler," ordered Colossus as he prepared to jump out of the car.

            "Are you crazy?!" shouted Shadowcat, "You'll be killed if you jump out at this speed!"

            "Not in my armored form I'm not," Colossus reassured, "Now stay on him."

            Just as they pasted Nightcrawler, Colossus leaped out of the car and landed on his two feet.  Halo turned to look at her brother and fallen comrade as they disappeared into the distance.  She turned to look at Shadowcat whose face was filled with rage and anguish.  Stepping on the gas pedal at full speed, the two cars rapidly approached the cliff at the end of the plateau.

            "Is that guy crazy!?" shouted Halo as Cypher accelerated even faster.

            "Switch places," muttered Shadowcat concentrating deeply as she held onto to the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

            "What?!"

            "SWITCH PLACES!"

            "Are you out of your mind?  I'm no…"

            "Just do it!" shouted Shadowcat as she gained on Cypher.

            Knowing that once Shadowcat makes up her mind about something that she rarely changes her mind, Halo did as told and unleashed rings of energy around both Shadowcat and herself, teleporting each other into opposite seats.  With Halo now at the wheel and Shadowcat in the passenger seat, Shadowcat made another request.

            "Teleport the whole car in front of his car," Shadowcat commanded as she started to stand up in her seat.

            "No, Kitty," Halo protested as she struggled to maintain control of the car.

            "I want you to teleport the car so that we rush head-on to this son of a b*tch.  I'm going to jump into his car and you head back to help Colossus and Nightcrawler.  They need the car more than I do."

            "This is f*cking crazy!  I'm not going to let you do this!  That madman will kill you!"

            "Just do it!" demanded Shadowcat looking down on her friend with her hair blowing wildly in the air.

            "Okay.  I'll do it," muttered Halo as she closed her eyes.

            As Halo squint her eyes tightly closed, sparks of light and energy started to encircle her as though she were an angel.  More lights started to form until Halo's whole body was engulfed in a blinding light.  As Shadowcat anxiously glanced to and from Halo and the cliff, perspiration started to drip down the side of her face.  Suddenly, Halo opened her eyes and that very instant, the energy surrounding Halo was launched ahead of their car and turned into a large ring of pure energy.

The car strode right through the ring and immediately, Shadowcat and Halo found themselves on a head-on collision with Cypher.  About to make impact, Halo swerved to the right and Cypher swerved to the left, both narrowly missing each other.  At that close encounter, Shadowcat leaped into Cypher's car, ready to do battle.  Halo's car started to spin out wildly before finally coming to a complete stop.  She looked over at Shadowcat as she and Cypher went full speed toward the cliff.  Halo then started to head back in hopes of helping Colossus and Nightcrawler before it was too late.

            Landing hard into Cypher's passenger seat, Shadowcat took a moment to regain her balance.  Cypher continued to head straight for the cliff, not slowing down at all.  Pulling her gun out of her shoulder holster, Shadowcat placed the gun right at Cypher's head, ready to shoot.

            "Stop the damn car or I'll blow your f*cking brains out!" Shadowcat threatened but Cypher didn't even care.  He turned to face her and she cried out in shock, "Doug!?  No!  It can't be!"

            Cypher drove the car right off the cliff and as the car started to descend, Shadowcat turned intangible to anchor herself to the very edge of the cliff while Cypher started to mutate into a large techno-organic aircraft and flew the rest of the way, heading to an unknown destination.  Shaken by what she had just experienced, Shadowcat dropped her gun on the floor, stunned.

            ('What happened to you Doug?  What happened?')

            Back at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, it was nearly three o'clock in the morning and Magnus was still holed up in his office completing the last batch of paperwork he had.  Just as Magnus was about to turn off the light and close up for the night, an unexpected visitor entered the room.

            "Hi, Magnus," greeted Rogue as she stood as the doorway with one arm up against the doorframe.

            "Jesse, what are you doing here?" asked Magnus, surprised.

            "Is that anyway to treat a former student?"

            "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that way," apologized Magnus as Rogue entered the room, "Is there something wrong with your powers?  Are they acting up again?"

            "That's kind of why I'm back but I already talked with Xavier about it.  There's something else that I wanted to talk with you about."

            "Rogue, this really…"

            "No you have to hear me out," Rogue interrupted, "The night before graduation, I dumped all the talk about me being with Bobby and that being with you was, you know… over.  That was wrong of me.  I shouldn't have piled all that info on you and leave the way I did."

            "But you made it clear that you were with Bobby and that we shouldn't be together anymore because it was… wrong and… um… immoral."

            "That was then and this is now," said Rogue as she approached closer to Magnus, "Bobby and I, well, we have been having problems.  Turns out we ain't as compatible as I thought we were.  That's aite though, he was just an inexperienced boy anyway.  Why should I settle for a boy when I could have a man… like you."

            "Rogue, we really shouldn't do this anymore.  I'm your Vice Principal.  I can't…"

            "Former Vice Principal, Magnus," Rogue corrected, "That was part of why I felt what we were doing was immoral.  I was underage and you were my VP.  Now we're both adults and adults make their own decisions."

            "Rogue…"

            "Shhh…  Enough talk, Magnus.  Let's get back to what we do best…"

            Rogue reached behind her with her arms and pulled the strings which held her red top firmly over her breast.  As she pulled the last string, the red blouse slowly slid off of Rogue's body, revealing her naked form.  As she approached close to Magnus, she used her free hand to close the office door behind her by recalling the imprint she had of Jean "Marvel Woman" Grey's telekinesis.  The door slammed shut.

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